Things started so positively a few years ago when I read an RAF future outline brief handed to me during a media visit. It described the new types that would possibly be entering service and as well as those in line to replace aircraft then in service. What impressed me was the numbers involved. The potential figure of up to 40 new helicopters to replace the Puma, Bell 212, and 412 fleets seemed viable, and five E-7 Wedgetails would replace the E-3 Sentry that would soon be retiring. It briefly appeared that the UK Government had finally got its act together and had bucked the trend of reducing the defence budget - an easy target for political parties over the years to cover failures in other departments, while asking more of the RAF and the other military arms.
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